Vendetta
by uzumaki rakku
Summary: "This is not a mission, I assume," his Kage Bunshin remarks, while the real Sakumo quietly draws his blade. "A personal grudge, then." "You killed my son and his wife," Chiyo snarls. "I'll kill you, Shiroi Kiba!" Vengeful hate is poison, with no antidote.
1. Vendetta

**Written for a prompt on naruto_meme, the anonymous writing meme on LJ.**

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><p>Sakumo ducks.<p>

_Poison,_ his nose tells him, even as a swiftly-executed Shunshin brings him out of the attacking range.

His team has the sense to dodge, scatter, and get the hell out of there until everything blows over. They are no pushovers, of course, and they do have their pride as shinobi, but they are _not_ idiots. Only an idiot would stand in the way of someone strong enough to pose a threat to the White Fang of Konoha.

Poison, wood, and that odd, nearly-scentless oil which Suna's puppeteers like to use to maintain their weapons of choice.

"You're Suna no Chiyo, of the two Siblings, aren't you?" he asks, and adds mildly, "Tsunade-san has been complaining about your latest challenge for quite some time."

The kunoichi's response is a buzzsaw-wielding puppet to his face, which slices cleanly through a log.

"This is not a mission, I assume," his Kage Bunshin remarks, while the real Sakumo quietly draws his blade. "A personal grudge, then."

"You killed my son and his wife," Chiyo snarls. "I'll kill you, Shiroi Kiba!"

He grits his teeth, suppressing a white-hot surge of anger. Two puppets attack him this time, and he breaks them both with almost violent force.

"In case you have not noticed, we are in a war," Sakumo snaps back, struggling to keep his voice level. "It _happens_. My wife was a member of the platoon which fell victim to _your_ poison gas."

The kunoichi smiles bitterly, with a touch of vicious, vindictive satisfaction. "Oh, that Slug girl couldn't fix it in time, then?" Something in her expression shifts, and she directs a glare of cold, furious grief at him.

"My grandson constantly asks when they're coming home."

Sakumo pauses. "Hm. I'm sorry for _that,_ I suppose." It is quietly sincere, yet unyielding.

"You know damn well," the enraged woman hisses, "That I'll only accept an apology like that from your _corpse."_

She flings a storage scroll open, and Sakumo narrows his eyes. He recognizes those seals what they mean for the battle.

The ten puppets of Chikamatsu.

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Sakumo swears, in the midst of chaos _multiplied by ten_, as a senbon grazes his arm. There is no ignoring the numbness which is already spreading, even from such a shallow cut.

_(__He realizes that he needs to end this or he may die, and his mind reminds him – of Konoha's gates, solid and welcoming, home – of Kakashi, who looks so much like him even at the tender age of four – of his wife, smiling as he returns from a mission – of Kakashi, yet again, staring expectantly down at him with feet firmly stuck to the underside of a branch – of Kakashi playing with the dogs, running all over the house while his exasperated but amused mother calls after him – of his hand on his son's silver hair, as both of them stare at a gravestone – of a hint of white chakra from his tiny son—)_

The pure white blade slashes through the air, five puppets and an arm come crashing to the ground, and Sakumo knows it is as good as over.

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"But I cannot do that," he tells her afterwards, with the half-ruined remains of her ten puppets _(**Ten**, _a part of his mind mutters incredulously. _I'm lucky to even be alive.)_ scattered about in the newly-created plane of desolation. "Because I, too, happen to have a son of my own. And I _will_ return to him today. Sorry about that."

(And if he allows himself to be chivalrous and lets the _grandmother_ live, it's just Jiraiya's influence rubbing off on him... in a good way, for once.)

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One of his team members scoffs, quietly, and tells him he's too soft.

Sakumo blinks wearily, a bitter smile on his lips, and murmurs—

"Hmm, you said something?"

He stares dully at the woman's severed right arm lying on the bloodstained sands, ignoring the irritated man. Sakumo thinks, briefly, of how there is no way he could have won without disabling half her puppets in that one slice.

_Konoha no Shiroi Kiba_ flicks the blood off his chakra blade, and turns to leave. He is very much aware of the slow-acting poison in his veins, but Tsunade's newest antidote – which Jiraiya forced him to carry with him at all times – is enough to stall it until he gets medical treatment.

—The woman is a puppeteer and a medic-nin. She is likely to survive, his years of experience tell him, but by the time she is ready for combat again... the war would be over by then.

_Should_ be over, he tells himself.

He (desperately) hopes so, for all their sakes.

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But for now, he just wants to go home.

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><p>.<p>

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**The next 'chapter' is an extended author's note with some explanations/character analysis, mostly based around Chiyo and Sakumo, with a few mentions of other related people such as Kakashi. I thought it'd be better to separate my ramblings from the main text of the fic itself. ^^;;**

**~rakku**


	2. Extended Author's Note

**Extended author's note:**

**Sakumo is a very interesting character to write. :3 And I love him, he's awesome. He gives me the impression of being the badass shinobi version of a gentleman, y'know, and he seems sort of traditional in that sense. He's mostly polite, formal and composed, (which brings to mind Kishi's original plan for Kakashi, but nah. Sakumo's pretty different.) with a very professional attitude. He manages to be chivalrous and respectable... in the shinobi way. Crafty guy. :3 And still badass. *_***

**His son has always been a very professional shinobi, but post-Obito he prefers to appear like a lazy perv who can't be bothered to be punctual, and can be quite a "casual asshole" sometimes, too. XD But both Hatake men are the most badass and professional shinobi you'd ever find, and both of them know the value of human life. \o/**

**As we all know, Sakumo is willing to choose to save his teammates' lives even if it means failing the mission. There's a lot of bittersweetness to him, too. Especially with his wife's death, and the war, and that genius growing-up-too-fast-in-wartime son of his.**

**Towards Chiyo he is... quietly apologetic (for the loss, not the killing) but unyielding, as I mentioned in the fic, because he can sympathise with the situation, and he's the one who killed them. But he also refuses give any more than that quiet but unyielding apology, because... well. It's war, shit happens, and he was just doing his job. (he's just too polite, and opts for "It happens." instead... I admire his composure and self-restraint.) He has his own loyalty to and duty to protect his own village, after all.**

**The fact that Chiyo's poison gas killed his wife doesn't exactly make things easier, too. He's sort of – "Yeah well that sucks, but I'm not going to die just because you want me to. Tough." ...'cept that's the way a pissed Naruto would probably put it. XD**

**Chiyo, just like her first appearance in the canon plotline, has her somewhat justifiable reasons for acting this way, but I won't be surprised if you do feel a little pissed at her. It can't be helped, y'know, humans can't be perfectly objective. I think Kishi meant for her to piss people off at first, but as the Shippuuden plot progressed we get to see things from her perspective too, and the whole Sasori battle thing made her officially awesome. XD Her decision to revive Gaara was also a redeeming point, I guess, because it shows she's willing to change and fix something she was partly responsible for (she **_**did**_** help seal the demon in him, after all) ...even though she could easily have chosen to not do anything. She was on orders, just doing her job, when she made Gaara a jinchuuriki.**

**Sakumo would be freaking out silently and on the inside about how Chiyo FREAKING TRIED TO KILL HIM WITH TEN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS PUPPETS XDDDDDDDDD but he has too much self-control to show it. I ADMIRE HIS COMPOSURE.**


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